What Did the Rebel Yell Sound Like?

[Larry Davis]

What Did the Rebel Yell Sound Like?

In this exclusive clip from the 1930s, Confederate veterans step up to the mic and let out their version of the fearsome rallying cry (4:22)

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos...ll-sound-like/

[DALE ELLIS]

Old times here ain't forgotten!

[Jean-Loup]

Very interesting video!

[Richard T]

High times What would those fine southern gentlemen think of their ancestors removing statues and being ashamed of the stars and bars? Sad times are these

[Coltsnsox07]

I was born and raised in Atlanta, now I'm a Midwesterner but I remember it from reenactors at Stone Mountain. Nowadays, most people just think of Billy Idol...

[Robert H]

sad times in Virginia for sure

[ValhallaMilitaria]

High times What would those fine southern gentlemen think of their ancestors removing statues and being ashamed of the stars and bars? Sad times are these

What indeed? when the statue of a great, noble and honorable man needs to be pulled down because it's a 'hate' symbol? pure insanity.
These are bad times in which we find ourselves.
Eric

[eubank]

What does the Rebel Yell sound like? well, after hearing that...nothing to shout about...

[jacquesf]

What does the Rebel Yell sound like? well, after hearing that...nothing to shout about...

Yeah, not very intimidating, no wonder they lost. J

[DALE ELLIS]

Yeah, not very intimidating, no wonder they lost. J

Lost...lost Hell...the war ain't even over yet! The video was done in the 1930's making most of the guys around 90 years old so I would dare to say that several thousand of them yelling in their prime would have been a lot more intimidating.

[Geoff Walden]

Yeah, not very intimidating, no wonder they lost. J

I'm sure you must realize these were old men, trying to duplicate a sound from their youth ... and not very successfully. There were plenty of Yankees that said the REAL rebel yell frightened them during the war.

[Ludwig]

Why are Confederate items counted as "hate symbols" ???

[Edward]

Why are Confederate items counted as "hate symbols" ???

The most lasting and readily recognizable symbol of the Confederacy is without doubt the Stars and Bars. To many Southerners it symbolizes the sacrifice and remembrance of relatives who served in the Confederate forces. For others it is seen as a divisive symbol of the rebellion, or white supremacy. Your question will raise a dozen different answers, but suffice it to say it has been used historically for all the above reasons as is still the case today.

[Jean-Loup]

Its not the sound itself that must have been frightening, but what was associated with it, in other words a bunch of guys running forward with loaded weapons and bayonets, in times when a single day of battle could cause more casualties than 10 years of todays wars.

Some anti tank rockets these days make little click sounds a second before their fire. I am sure any tank crew hearing that sound needs a new pair of boxers, although the sound itself does not seem menacing.

JL

[Edward]

On many Civil War battlefields before Confederate formations were even seen, or not, the massed yells heard drifting across the battle front by Union officers and soldiers were recalled in some post-war accounts as enough to make one's hair stand on end. The yell did have a definite psychological effect on Union formations on some battlefields, and even a demoralizing one on individual soldiers.